Royal Wedding: portraits, brothers, handholding

Here are the official portraits taken by photographer Hugo Burnand in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace BEFORE the kiss(es) on the balcony. I love the group shot with the children, especially the boy leaning in, and her hand on his thigh. I love that Hot Harry, that eternal f-ck up, could not hold his sh-t together long enough to pose with the family without bursting into giggles. I love that Lady Louise’s feet are so far apart and they didn’t care to correct them. I love Prince William’s turned out toes. For some reason it reminds me of his baby pictures.

So… by now you know what Harry said to him at the altar, right? Harry saw Kate first, and, grinning, he told his brother:

“Wait til you see her.”

That might be my favourite part of all of it – not what he said but the relationship between them. They’re close, supportive of each other, and look better together than they do apart. In those uniforms? All tricked out? So tall and handsome and completely at ease? That’s how you know it’s breeding. Will and Harry wear military suits like other men wear track pants. It’s nothing to them. And the sight of the two, side by side, after all these years, from when they pounded on that piano together and now at the altar waiting for the future Queen, it’s incredibly moving.

Like, remember this?

Please!

Even then Harry was the one falling over all the time and not looking at the camera.

Did you see him on Friday when they first entered the Abbey? William, as the heir, immediately remembered to remove his cap. Harry spent the first couple of minutes slouching about, shaking hands with the clergy, before realising he’d had his on the whole time and taking it off.

He’s a mess.

I love him.

As for Will and Kate – my friend Lorella noted that instead of looping her arm into his on the way down the aisle, Will held her hand. And he also held her bouquet when she mounted the carriage. Sweet, right? On the production side, we had every feed available to us in the truck. There was a camera shooting the two of them riding back to the Palace from above. Did you know that they were holding hands in the carriage for a while? Her hand was on his leg. His placed on top of hers.

And all the lipreading?

Well they say he said to her, before the second kiss: “Let’s give them another one. I love you. One more kiss, one more kiss. OK?”

Obviously I’ve watched this over and over again countless times. I still can’t make out the “I love you” part. I will however attribute this to a deficiency on my end and believe it happened anyway.

During his speech, Will referred to her as his “rock”. Charles said he loved her like a daughter. Harry pointed out the similarities between Kate and their mother. They were too shy to slow dance for very long. They did however dance to “You’re the one that I want” from the Grease soundtrack. And pointed at each other while they were grooving to the lyrics which… that’s even cuter, non?

Also attached – Will and Kate left Buckingham Palace Saturday to spend the weekend in the UK before he has to return to work on Tuesday. Not known why they changed their minds about going on honeymoon straight away although there is now speculation that they postponed the trip after being given a heads up about what went down with Osama bin Laden and decided to stay close to home just in case. I love how public handholding is now acceptable that they’re married. But only now that they’re married. Being engaged isn’t proper enough for that kind of affection.

Oh but let’s not get too carried away with the upyourassness of the whole thing. There’s no gossip like royal gossip. And there’s no bitchfight like a royal bitchfight. Have you heard of Jemima Khan? Jemima used to date Hugh Grant. And she was a friend of Diana’s. And her mother is tight with Camilla. But Camilla didn’t invite her mother to the wedding. So Jemima took to her Twitter and suggested that Camilla should have not moved to replace Diana on the wedding register. And supposedly her mother is so pissed at not being included, she’s already started meangirling Charles’s wife who will no longer be allowed to hang out with all the important and rich old ladies of London. Click here for more background. Jemima denies that this is how it’s going down but…you know how it works. I live for this.

Princess Catherine doesn’t seem to be one to meddle in palace politics and intrigue though. We’ll leave that to Hot Harry’s wife, whenever he chooses one.

And for those of you who think Duchess is a downgrade – don’t be ridiculous. She’s already a Princess. Officially she’s Princess William of Wales. She automatically became that when they married. But it’s an awkward thing to say, the Princess William of Wales. So on official documents, like press releases and nametags, she’ll be referred to as HRH the Duchess of Cambridge. Once William becomes the Prince of Wales – when his father ascends – she’ll immediately be the Princess of Wales. And once William becomes King, she’ll be the Queen. As for what to call her right now, in breaking with protocol, the palace has stated on the record they have no objection to calling them Prince William and Princess Catherine which is pretty much as strong of an endorsement as any.